Assault on Kerala Hindus – Part 1

The decline of Hindus in Kerala needs no introduction. From 56% in 2001, the Hindu population has came down to 54% in 2011, a repetition of of declining Hindu population from previous decades. It is pretty much clear that in coming decades we shall see a situation in Kerala similar to Kashmir (where Hindus have been displaced by Muslims) or North Eastern states (where Hindus has been replaced by Christians), with declining Hindu influence and population and rise of Abrahamisms.

To start , let us mention that the heritage of Kerala is essentially Hindu. Early Sangam age Tamil texts like Pathitrupathu, which praises Chera kings (the dominant ancient dynasty of Kerala), was composed around 2000 years ago and mentions how the Chera king washed the idol of Goddess Kannagi in the holy waters of Ganga in north. This means that the Keralites were Hindus back then and considered Ganga as a holy river just like modern Hindus. Also, in Chera coins we find Hindu symbols like Trishula and axe which is the symbol of Bhagwan Shiva. Later, during the time of second Cheras, kings Kulasehkhara Azhvar and Cheraman Perumal Nayanar were Vaishnavite and Shaivite kings respectively. So it means that the Keralites were Hindus since time immemorial.

Sangam age Chera coin with image of Shaivite trident-axe symbol in front of elephant, from the book Sangam age Tamil coins by R. Krishnamurthy

Ascetic form of Shiva holding same trident-axe on a Kushana coin from north Bharat. Source: http://coinindia.com/galleries-vima-kadphises.html

Same symbol in front of a temple, coin of Audumbara tribe of northern Bharat. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shiva_temple_with_trident_standard_Audumbara_State_Punjab_1st_century_BCE.jpg

To sum up, heritage of Kerala and modern Malayalam is purely Hindu. But to distort this fact, there is a lot of propaganda widespread among Keralites, made popular by Abrahamists or secular left-liberals. These include the legend of St. Thomas (who is said to be disciple of Jesus) arriving in Kerala during 1st century CE and conversion of last Chera king Cheraman Perumal into Islam and his pilgrimage to Mecca . These are two of the main historical assaults on Hindu history of Kerala.

First, let us take the myth of St. Thomas. None of the Sangam age works dating back to that period mentions presence of Christians in Kerala during that time. Further, there is no archaeological evidence for the presence of Christianity in Kerala during that time either. The myth states that Thomas managed to convert Nambuthiri Brahmins. But Nambuthiris or Malayala Brahmins are not encountered in Sangam corpus or inscriptions (Brahmins of Kerala were Tamils back then) and the community was mostly formed in medieval times only. So what historical basis is there for this nonsensical myth? Further, according to the myth, Thomas was killed in Mylapore near Chennai. We know that Christians were non existent in Tamil Nadu until recently. So this myth is purely absurd.

Now for the Cheraman Perumal myth – the Perumal reign was just started during 8th century, and the historical Cheraman Perumal Nayanar was a Shaivite king (evident from his inscriptions) and the legend says that he went to Kailasa. This event is narrated in many ancient temples dating back to medieval period. The pilgrimage to mecca could only have been a bastardized version of this legend. Further, the rule of Cheras continued till around 11-12th centuries, so the claim that last Cheraman Parumal converted during 8th century is ridiculous.

These are the historical assaults on Kerala Hindus. In next part, we shall look at the present day assaults on Kerala Hindus.

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